1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns an improved low friction multilayer ambulatory pad for reducing or preventing bedsores, pressure sores, decubitous ulcers and similar lesions caused by pressure and friction applied to a person's body; and for managing fluids discharged from the body of a person such as a geriatric patient who is bedridden, confined to a wheelchair, or is ambulatory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In our prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,572, 174 which issued Feb. 25, 1986, we disclosed a bed pad structure intended to relieve the pressure, friction, and shear forces which are now recognized as principal causes of bedsores, pressure sores and decubitus ulcers in bedridden and chair ridden patients. We disclosed a low friction bed pad structure having a pouch portion between a woven fabric upper porous sheet and a lower flexible nonporous sheet. The pouch portion permitted insertion and removal of a lubricated sheet which exuded lubricant that seeped through the pores in the upper sheet to a patient's body when it applied pressure to the pad being held stationary on a bed, to reduce friction between the patient's body and the bed or other supporting surface to which the pad was attached.
The prior pad has proven generally successful, but experience has revealed it has some shortcomings, such as the following:
1. The procedure for inserting and removing the prelubricated sheets is messy and laborious.
2. The pad with lubricated insert removed must be thoroughly washed and sterilized before the pad can be reused.
3. The pad is made of relatively expensive materials which make the pad too costly to discard after a single use.
4. It is necessary to keep an adequate stock or supply of lubricated insert sheets on hand at all times; and this creates storage and inventory problems.
5. The prior pads are intended for use by bedridden patients and are not wearable by ambulatory patients who move frequently from bed to wheel chair to examination and treatment tables, etc. and back again.
6. There is a tendency for the loose insert sheets in use to move, migrate and bunch up inside the pouch portions of the pads.
7. The large bed pads are not adapted for application to a limited area of a patient's body, i.e. restricted, for example, to a patient's heels, elbows, head, shoulders, or other body part.
8. Careless or inept handling by attendants of lubricated inserts removed from pads used by seriously infected patients, can cause spread of infectious diseases.
9. The prior pads do not absorb material quantities of discharged body fluids such as perspiration, urine, blood, pus, etc.
10. Where there are pre-existing infections, the occurrence of bedsores in the presence of frequent urine discharges aggravates the condition and causes progressively more serious medical problems.